Shoe-sewing machine



May 19, 1925. 1,538,752

T. H. SEELY SHOE SEWING MACHINE Original Filed ec. 22, 1916 Zl/ititQ-SS fizz'eiziof' Maw Patented May 19, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS H. SEELY, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE 1V[A GHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATER'SON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

snon-snwrne MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. SnnLY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at h lalden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Shoe- Sewing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to shoe sewing machines, and more particularly to devices for severing the thread between the work and supply at the completion of the sewing of a seam, thread projecting from the thread handling device during the first part of the formation of a new seam.

The objects of the invention are to improve the construction and mode of operation of thread gripping and severing devices of this class and to produce devices of this character having novel provision for adjustment whereby certain improved results are secured.

with these objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel and improved constructions, arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the advantages of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description.

The invention will be readily understood from the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention in its preferred form and the following detailed description of the construction therein shown.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of the forward portion of the head of a wax thread shoe sewing machine with the invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a detail view in side elevation of a portion of the mechanism-shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow in said figure; Fig. i is a detail plan view illustrating the thread gripping and severing devices; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

The machine embodying the invention as illustrated in the drawing is a shoe sewing machine of the class employing a curved hook needle and devices cooperating there- Divided and this application filed April 19, 1919.

and for holding the free end of the Patent No. 1,355,856, dated October 19,

Serial No. 291,294.

with to form a chain-stitch seam, and .is designed particularly for sewing inseams of welted and turned shoes. The machine is provided with a curved hook needle 6, an awl or feed point 8, a looper 10, a looper lever 12, a bracket 13 upon which the looper lever is pivoted, a looper heater l t, a welt guide 15, and a back rest 16, all having the same construction, arrangement and mode of operation as the corresponding parts of the machine illustrated and described in applicants application Serial No. 138,399, Patent No. 1,355,856, dated October 19, 1920, of which the present application constitutes a division.

The thread gripping and severing devices illustrated in the drawing comprise a thread cutting knife 18 and a thread gripping device indicated as a whole at 20. The thread cutting knife is formed upon one arm of a thin plate bent at an acute angle and secured by means of a screw 22 to the forward face of the bracket 14. The knife may be adjusted relatively to the gripping deviceby loosening the screw 22 and turning the same about the screw. The thread gripping device consists of two cooperating thread gripping jaws 28 and 30 adapted to yieldingly grip thethread placed between them. The thread gripping jaw 28 is formed upon a cylindrical block 32 secured to a rod 34 having two arms bent substantially at right angles to each other, one of which is secured in a split clamp 36 formed on the looper lever 12 and actuated by a clamping screw 38. The jaw 30 of the thread gripping de vice is formed at the end of one arm of a U-shaped spring plate 1O, the other arm of which is secured to the rod 3a. the thread, when it is drawn between the thread gripping jaws, from passing beyond the jaws into the loop in the spring plate 4L0, two lateral projections 12 formed upon the block 32 extend from the block across the plane of. the contacting faces of the thread gripping jaws so as .to form stops for the thread.

hen a seam is completed, the shoe, after being removed from the work engaging devices of the machine, is manipulated to draw the thread between the thread gripping'jaws 28 and 30 and over the thread cutting knife 18, so that the thread is severed at some dis- To prevent tance beyond the point at which it is gripped by the thread gripping jaws. Vhen a new seam is started, the thread slips between the thread gripping jaws under the strain exerted by the thread handling devices on thetli read, the tension exerted by the thread gripping jaws on the thread ensur ing the proper looping of the needle in the first cycle of operation, and the proper formation .and tightening of the first one or two stitches of the seam. After one or two stitches have been formed, the thread is drawn from between the thread gripping jaws by the feeding movement of the shoe. The distance between the thread gripping jaws and the thread cutting knife determines the length of the free end of thread left projecting beyond the thread gripping jaws after the thread is severed, and this determines the time in the first part of the seam formation during which the thread will be held under tension between the thread gripping jaws. The thread should be held by the thread gripping jaws until after the first cycle of operations of the machine to ensure the proper formation of the first stitch. It is found to be desirable that the thread gripping jaws and the thread cutting knife should be relatively adjustable toward and from each other to adjust the distance from the jaws at which the thread is severed, in order to insure that the thread will be held by the thread gripping jaws until after the. first stitch of the seam is' formed. In the construction illustrated, the distance between the thread gripping jaws and the threadcutting knife may be adjusted by the angular adjustment of the arm of the rod 34 upon which the clamping jaws are mounted. The angular adjustment of this arm will vary the distance of the gripping jaws from the knife. After loosening the clamping screw 38, the arm of the rod 3 f upon which the thread gripping jaws are mounted may be swung about the arm of the rod which is engaged in the clamp 36 to regulate the distance between the thread gripping jaws and the thread cutting knife 18, so that the thread will be severed at the desired distance beyond the gripping jaws. hen the thread gripping jaws have been adjusted so that they are at the desired distance from the thread cutting knife, they may be clamped in adjusted position by tightening the clamping screw 38. The angular adjustment of the arm of the rod 34 which carries the thread gripping jaws may also be utilized to locate the gripping jaws in a position in which the thread may be most conveniently inserted between the aws by the manipulation of the shoe. The distance between the thread gripping jaw and the knife may also adjustment of said plate and the rod 34 the thread gripping jaws may be located in the position most convenient for the insertion of the thread and the distance between the thread cutting knife and the gripping jaws may be regulated so that the thread will be severed at the proper distance from the gripping aws. I

It will be noted that the thread gripping jaws are spaced from the 'lo'oper lever 12 and are connected therewith merely by the rod 8% through which heat is transm'itted by conduction from the lever to the gripping jaws. The gripping jaws will thus be maintained at a much lower temperature than that of the looper lever, with the result that the wax with which the thread is impregnated will be cooled by contact with the gripping jaws. The threadtherefore will not slip readily between the jaws, but the partially congealed wax will increase the resistance exerted by the aws on the thread. In the construction shown the distance between the lever 12 and the thread gripping jaws may be adjusted to regulate the heat transmitted by conduction from the lever 12 to the gripping jaws by the longitudinal adjustment of the arm ofthe rod 3a which is engaged in a clamp 36. v

Having explained the na't'ure'and object of the invention, and having specifically described 21 machine embodying the same in its preferred form what is claimed is 1. A s'ho'e sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices including a curved hook needle, a looper, a looper lever, means for heating the lever to heat the looper, an arm-secured to the lever, a thread gripping device carried by the arm, and means whereby the l'er' 'gth of the arm between the gripping device and the lever may be adjusted.

2. A shoesewing machine havingfin con-.- bination, stitch forming devices including a hook needle, a heating device and a thread 7 gripping device connected with the heating device and adapted to be adjusted toward and from the heating device.

3. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a heating device, a clamp connected with the heating device, a rod secured in the clamp and adapted to be adjusted longitudinally therein, and a thread gripping device mounted on the rod. I i

4. A shoe sewing machinehaving,in combination, stitch forming devices, a heating device, a thread cutting-device, and a thread gripping device adjustable toward and from both the heating device and the thread cutting device. 7

A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a rod, a thread gripping device mounted on the rod and comprising a U-shaped spring plate having one end secured to the rod and its other end free, a thread gripping jaw carried by the rod, a cooperating thread gripping jaw formed on the free end of the spring plate, and a stop for the thread extending across the plane of contact of the jaws.

6. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a thread gripping device with relation to which the shoe is moved during the sewing operation and from which the thread is drawn by the movement of the shoe, a support, a thin steel plate bent at an acute angle, a thread cutting knife formed on one arm of said plate, a screw passing through an opening in the other arm of said plate and threaded into said support for adjustably securing the plate to the support to permit an adjustment of the knife towards and from the thread gripping device.

7. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, a thread cutting device, a clamp, a rod secured in the clamp and adapted to be adjusted angularly therein, and a thread gripping device mounted on the rod and adapted to be ad justed toward and from the cutting device by the angular adjustment of the rod.

8. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, "a thread cutting device, a heating device, a clamp connected therewith, a rod secured in the clamp and adapted to be adjusted longitudinally and angularly therein, and a thread gripping device mounted on the rod and arranged to be adjusted toward and from the heating device by the longitudinal adjustment of the rod in the clamp, and to be adjusted toward and from the cutting device by the angular adjustment of the rod in the clamp.

9. A shoe sewing machine having, in combination, stitch forming devices, and a thread gripping device with relation to which the shoe is moved during the sewing operation and from which the thread is drawn by the movement of the shoe and a thread cutting device relatively adjustable to adjust the distance from the thread gripping device that the thread is severed.

THOMAS H. SEELY. 

